Former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, vice-chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said of the CRC's 1998 hearings in Santa Rosa CA, "It was as if there were two Santa Rosas and two Sonoma Counties…"
He was right. One Santa Rosa is the economic, political, and social elite that has owned and run our City and County for decades. The other Santa Rosa is all the rest of some 165,000 residents. This blog is dedicated to The Other Santa Rosa.

Monday, May 17, 2004

PD praises growth-reducing land-use policies--World to end soon?

A Press Democrat editorial Sunday (5/16/04) said,

"for cities and counties, coming to a stop after periods of rapid growth can take years. This is what has happened in Sonoma County which, new figures show, grew by a meager 0.7 percent last year, making the county the 15th slowest-growing in California."

The Editor didn't say what period of rapid growth he was talking about, or how many years ago it happened. And in fact, there were major residential growth booms here--especially in Santa Rosa--at the end of both the '80s and '90s.

The Editor explained,

"The primary reason for the slowdown in Sonoma County is the sluggish economy and job losses which, unfortunately, have forced some residents to move away and made it difficult for others to move here. But it's also the result of wise land-use policies which, over time, have managed to put the brakes to growth levels which at one point were unsustainable."

The PD's admission that growth levels were unsustainable, at least at one indefinite point, and praise for wise policies that have reduced those levels, qualify as Omens & Portents That May Well Herald the Impending End of the World As We Have Known It. However, the Editor also said growth was inevitable, and called for reexamination of those wise policies:

"Populations numbers will always rise and fall with each economic shift. But what's also certain is that, during times such as these, communities need to re-examine land-use policies to be sure that when growth inevitably picks up again, they will experience the kind of new development that they want and need most."

About Me

Geoff is a Northern California native, who has lived most of his life since 1952 in Santa Rosa. He's a citizen, taxpayer, voter, and (thanks to inheritance) a homeowner. Geoff wrote nearly 50 major articles about City Hall for the monthly Sonoma County Environmental Impact Reporter between 1992-98. He strongly supports stringent enforcement of California's Brown Act, which requires elected and appointed officials to do most of the City's business at open and public regular meetings; and the Political Reform Act, which prohibits officials from acting on matters in which they have a personal financial interest. Geoff is also owner/moderator of the Yahoo group The Real Santa Rosa, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/therealsr/